


Mended

by levi_trashh



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Armin Arlert - Freeform, Eremin - Freeform, Eren Yeager - Freeform, Exes, Falling In Love, Heartbreak, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Moving On, Past Love, Past Relationship(s), Slow Build, Slow Romance, bookstore, country
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-04 11:57:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6656902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/levi_trashh/pseuds/levi_trashh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Previously called "Living in a Fantasy")</p><p> </p><p>This trip was supposed to help him forget his ex. Yet, he still remembered everything about them. The smile he loved waking up next to, the laugh he rarely heard, but when he did, made his day brighter, and the days where they would stay in bed and cuddle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

The skies were clear with only the sun showing. Condensation went down the side of the glass of lemonade as the ice cubes inside clinked together.

Armin picked up the cold glass taking a drink in from the blue, striped straw. The land in front was clear. Armin loved the country. The vast land, clear skies, and fresh air.

It was peaceful.

It was quiet.

It was the exact opposite of his previous relationship. He was incredibly thankful that his grandfather is letting him stay at his house. He needed a breather from work and to get away from memories of his ex.

He got up from the lawn chair and stretched. While he loved the country, it could get rather dull, but luckily his grandfather lived close to a bookstore. He was going to visit it for the first time since he arrived three months ago. Before now, all he could think about was his ex.

Since it was pretty close, he decided to walk. He picked up sunglasses that were next to the lemonade and walked into the sun, putting them on as he went. He wore simple clothes, the basics, and it was a rushed trip here, so he didn't bring anything great, just t-shirts and shorts.

It was about half a mile up the road, so he was left to his thoughts for twenty minutes. Once or twice while he walked, his sandal slipped off, and he touched the scorching road. He thought about how his ex scorched his heart to bits.

He passed cows behind wooden fences and wondered why he couldn’t have a simple life like that.

No stress.

No worries.

Just grazing in the grass, and basking in the sunlight.

This trip was supposed to help him forget his ex. Yet, he still remembered everything about them. The smile he loved waking up next to, the laugh he rarely heard, but when he did, made his day brighter, and the days where they would stay in bed and cuddle.

He was lost in thoughts, and barely noticed a car that was coming up behind him, until he honked.

Armin quickly moved out of the way, shouting a feeble, “I’m sorry!”

He only received a grunt in response. He looked up the road, and saw a sign, still a bit far away to read, but he assumed it was the bookstore.

He planned to spend hours there, reading, relaxing, and forgetting. One thing he loved about small bookstores was that you can find the greatest stories that you'd never see in large chain bookstores.

He loved finding new books to read, old or new, modern or historical, long or short. He loved them all. In his apartment in the city, he managed to get quite a large space that had bookshelves lining the wall, most being filled up.

A few steps away, he read the sign:

The Book Nook.

The outside looked dingy. The foundation was cracked, the paint was faded, chipping and peeling, and the roof sagged. The discolored sign on the door said, “Come in! We’re open!” While it isn’t the most beautiful on the outside, Armin reasoned the inside would look better since all the books were there.

He walked in, the bell above the door chimed. No one was behind the counter so he looked around. There were about three large bookshelves, each of them had books spilling out, threatening to swamp the entire store in them. Books were piled high on top of the bookshelves as well as the floor, and on the side tables that were scattered next to mismatched chairs.

It was homely, calming, everything he was looking for. Serene music played through a small radio on the counter, which was covered with paper. The music and atmosphere helped improve his mood significantly since he first arrived in the country.

He felt idiotic that he didn’t think to come here. Books were his passion, so why’d he just retreat into his bedroom? He thought that maybe even with the loss he felt at the time, this one store could’ve helped him.

A door shut and took Armin out of his trance. A man looking in his twenties, about Armin’s age, saw him standing there.

“Welcome to the Book Nook! I’m sorry I wasn’t here to greet you, I had a phone call in the back. Looking for anything in particular?” The man smiled at Armin going through his routine words for when a customer visited.

“N-No. Just browsing.” Armin quietly responded back.

“Let me know if you need anything.” The man walked behind the counter and pinned a name tag to his shirt, “Name’s Eren, by the way!” He pointed to the name tag.

Armin just nodded and started going through books that were on the floor.

“What time do you close?”

“9:30 P.M. Usually earlier since we don’t really have customers come in.”

“I’ll be here until 9:30.”

Armin too busy with the books didn’t notice the shocked look on Eren’s face.

“Alright… That’s fine by me. I didn’t have anything planned anyway.”

Armin was thoroughly engrossed in a book, everything around him became dull. All he saw, were the words on the pages. All he felt, was what the characters were feeling. All he wondered, was what was going to occur next. All he wanted to do was read for hours on end, not paying attention to real life, and just focusing on the fantasy world. The setting, the characters, their feelings, their hopes, their dreams… He wanted nothing more than to be transported with them.

* * *

“Hey…” Armin felt a hand nudge his back. He looked up, thumb in his mouth, biting it in anticipation of what’s going to happen next.

“It’s closing time.”

Armin just stared at Eren, processing what he just said, a little out of it from being in Book World for so long.

Once he registers what’s going on, he looks up at the old clock on the wall. Indeed, it did say 9:45.

He quickly got up from the cushion he was sitting on, “I-I’m sorry I’m making you get off of work late!”

Eren rubbed the back of his neck, “Don’t worry about it. Like I said, I don’t have any plans.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any less horrible.”

Armin set the book down, gently, and then walked outside. The moon was shining brightly with the stars. Another thing he loved about the country, how you could see the stars. All the different shapes and constellations you could see? He loved that.

He started walking down the road, back towards his grandfather's’ house.

“You’re gonna walk.”

“Yea.”

“At least let me give you a ride, it’s cold at night.”

And right, Eren was, the wheat field danced from the chilly wind, and unconsciously, Armin shivered.

“Hop in. I’ll take you home.”

Armin did as told, and sat in the passenger seat of an old blue pick-up truck. While the paint was faded, it looked as if it was cared for immensely.

“Where to?”

“Um. I’m not sure of his address, but it’s a half a mile away.”

“Mr. Arlert’s place? Are you his grandson that I hear so much about?”

Armin looked at Eren, eyes wide, “Grandfather talks about me?”

“All the time when he comes to visit, saying how successful you are in your line of work, how one day you’re going to be a famous CEO of a large company.”

Armin looked out his window and smiled to himself. He never knew his grandfather felt that proud about him. It felt nice that he was appreciated by someone at least.

“Well, this is your stop.” Eren stalled the car in front of the house.

“Thank you, Eren.”

Eren looked away, blushing, and rubbing the back of his neck, “No problem.”

Armin walked up the wooden steps and stopped at where he was sitting earlier. The lemonade was paler, diluted from the ice. He picked it up and entered the house.

Today was just the thing he needed.


	2. Chapter Two

The sky was filled with clouds today. Not the puffy, sunny type, though. They were the ones that brought storms: cumulonimbus.

Armin stood on the porch, taking the scene in front of him in. The strong wind made all the trees dance to the sounds of the rain pitter pattering against the roof. He could feel the heat and humidity radiating from the rain from where he was sitting.

His eyes gazed on, he absolutely loved storms. And reading while it’s storming? What a perfect day for him. Now he just had to figure out how he was going to go to The Book Nook.

Armin didn’t have a car. He arrived here via a small plane that landed in a similarly small airport. His grandpa had a car, but he was off who knows where.

So that left Armin, sitting, alone, looking as the rain persisted. He remembered the times with his ex where they would spend the day lying under the covers. Rain and thunderstorms gave him headaches, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t love them.

When lightning strikes he feels, frightened, sure, but he also feels like he sees something bigger. A whole experience strikes when storms happen. Thunder being the soundtrack for the movie. Lightning being the pictures dancing around on the screen. Combined it creates the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

Armin believed every storm had a story. A light downpour with the sun shining, and rainbows manifesting in puddles would be someone’s tears of happiness after good news. A thunderstorm lasting a few minutes would be a lover’s quarrel. Hurricanes would be the ones with the most severe stories, with those, he usually couldn’t think of anything, since nothing ever severely bad happened to him. But right now, just thinking about storms and their stories, Armin thought hurricanes, to him, represent heartbreak.

In the corner of Armin’s eyes, he swore he saw something, something blue and large. In the intensity of the rain, he couldn’t exactly see, but then he heard a honk. It was a car. Armin took a spare shirt that was sitting next to him and ran towards the passenger seat of the car.

He slipped inside, making the fabric cushions damp with rainwater, and his shirt didn’t help with not getting wet either. Inside, he was met with the Book Nook worker.

“Some rain, huh?” Eren ruffled his hair, and looked out of the windshield, rain pattering on it, making splatter shapes.

“Y-Yea.” Armin didn’t know what to say. Why did Eren pick him up?

“Sorry for just, like, showing up here without any notice. Your grandfather’s usually out at this time, and I assumed you wanted to read again, and, uh, that you didn’t have a ride, since, uh, you walked yesterday?”

Armin nodded at Eren, who, while didn’t really look it, was pretty perceptive to Armin and what he’s doing. He gets’s settled in the seat and puts on his seatbelt.

“Sorry about your seat, getting it wet I mean.”

“Nah, don’t worry. It’ll dry. Not exactly sure about you, though. I have a spare shirt in the shop if you’d like to wear that.”

“T-That would be nice.” Armin looked at the window, seeing his reflection overlap with the rain hitting the glass, a little embarrassed.

Eren parked his car closely to the entrance of the Book Nook, and the two of them ran inside, Eren getting somewhat wet, while Armin, still soaked from before, got even wetter.

“I’ll be right back with that shirt, you can start reading in the meantime or something. There are paper towels behind the counter, so help yourself.”

Armin nodded. He went behind the counter, which was just as cluttered as the top, and looked at everything there.

More books were piled up on the shelves. A necklace with a key on it hung from a nail tacked into the shelf. There was a photo frame too, a man and a woman, looking just like Eren, so he figured they were his parents. He finally spotted the paper towels and wiped down his hands, arms, and face.

“Here ya go.” Eren extended his hand holding a white shirt.

“Thanks.” Armin took off the tank top he was wearing, and wore the shirt, it being a little too loose, but he could manage.

He picked up the book he had started last time and started going back into the world of it.

“Hey, Armin, right? Tomorrow, some of the other people are gonna hang out, wanna join us?”

“Uh-h… I’m not sure… Why are you asking?”

“You seem lonely. You should come.”

“...I’ll think about it.”

“Great!” Eren flashed a huge smile, and went behind the counter to turn the radio on, and he began reading himself.

Armin was now a little distracted from reading. Did he really look that lonely? Soon enough, the pages enticed him, and he got sucked again into the story.

* * *

“Armin. It’s time to close up.”

Armin quickly looked up, “Oh, okay.” He set the book down, got up, and brushed his pants off.

“Looks like it stopped raining. You can keep that shirt, by the way, I have loads.”

Armin nodded, and both hopped into his truck.

In a few minutes, it stopped in front of the house, and Armin got out.

“Wait… Before you go… Just think about coming, ok?”

Armin nodded, and Eren left as he walked up the steps.

He went inside, brushed his teeth, put his pajamas on, then climbed into bed.

He started thinking whether or not he should go. Whether or not Eren is really trying to help him. Whether or not it’ll help him forget everything… Then he drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Leave a comment and kudos, it'll be much appreciated! :D Thank you for reading <3


	3. Chapter Three

Armin woke up, legs tangled in the plaid, blue comforter. Sun seeped into the room from the sheer curtains and made Armin’s eyes sting. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and checked his phone.

 **Unknown Number** : _Hey, it’s Eren. Your grandfather gave me your number. I hope you don’t mind… Anyways I came to ask you if you were gonna come to my friend's place._

 **Armin** : _Sure, I’m not really doing anything today. So, why not._

He had sent that text but in reality, he was actually really nervous. He can easily go to board meetings, and do presentations, but meeting people always made him nervous. At board meetings he never met any of the people, he just stood in the front of the room and talked. It wasn’t really stressful, he just imagined he was speaking to him, his eyes either on the board or over everyone’s head when looking towards the audience.

 **Eren** : _Alright! I’m glad, Armin. I’ll be there in an hour._

He scratched his head, and got up, stretching and yawning. He brushed his teeth and hair before getting dressed into a simple blue button down shirt and khaki shorts. He put his trilby on his head before going to the kitchen and grabbing a bagel. He spread brown sugar cinnamon cream cheese on it, then happily ate it, lost in his own thoughts.

Thoughts about how this day was going to go, about how Eren’s friend is, and about if he was going to regret coming later. Would Eren’s friend be horrible? Or would his friend be really nice? Armin was always an over thinker in these types of situations. He couldn't help it, it’s just how his brain was coded.

His fingers played with the tip of his trilby as he heard a honk from outside. He walked down the wooden steps and got into the blue pickup.

“I’m glad you decided to come.”

“It’s not like I have anything to do.”

“Right.”

They sat in silence, Armin staring out the passenger window. Houses started appearing once in awhile, and finally, Eren stopped, parking onto the rock parking lot of a small house. They both got out of the car, Armin getting increasingly nervous as they walked towards the red door.

“Don’t worry, she’s nice.” Eren knocked on the door, stepped back and waited. The door creaked open, and a girl with short black hair answered.

Her face lit up with joy as she saw Eren, “Long time no see!”

“You came by the shop two days ago.”

“Exactly.” She let out a laugh, “Who’s this?”

“Armin Arlert. He’s the guy that read until closing time that I was telling you about.”

Armin blushed, “Sorry about that, again…”

Eren brushed him off, “By the way, this is Mikasa.” He gestured towards her. She was wearing simple jeans and a simple shirt that read “Strength” in cursive handwriting.

Mikasa waved at Armin and gave a shy wave back. He felt calmer now, just slight nervousness.

“Come on in, guys.”

They walked through the archway, a nail tacked to it held a red scarf, and into the living room. It was pretty simple, a couch, an armchair, a tv, and pictures around the wall. There were pictures of Mikasa, Eren, the two of them together, and pictures he assumed were Mikasa’s parents.

Armin and Eren sat next to each other on the couch while Mikasa opted for the armchair. They sat in silence, you could practically hear the second hand on the clock ticking away.

Eren was the first to interrupt, “Anyone else coming?”

“Yea, actually, Jean’s coming.”

“You invited _him_?! Why in the world would you do that.”

“I know you two had a rough past, but Eren, he’s still a friend.”

“ _Some friend_.”

The atmosphere became quiet again, and the tension was thick enough to cut. A knock was heard and Mikasa quickly got up to answer it. Their voices, muffled as they talked by the door.

“Jean, hi. Eren and his friend are already here.”

“Eren’s here?!”

“Jean. Stop. He’s a friend. Just like you’re a friend.”

No response was heard and the steps grew louder as they entered the living room.

Armin looked at Jean, he too, wearing simple clothing, jeans, and a plain black shirt. Jean waved at him then shuffled his hand into his pocket, standing awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

“So, what’re we doing here?” Jean asked.

“To get to know Armin. He’s from the city, and we decided to welcome him.” Eren simply answered.

“Yeah, okay, I get that. But what am _I_ doing here?”

“Because you’re a good friend, Jean. And you wouldn’t let something in the past stop you from making new friends.” Mikasa intervened.

Jean blushed, looking off to the side, mumbling.

“So, Armin, what do you do in the city?” Mikasa asked.

“Huh? Oh. Uh, I work at an office, nothing major. One day, I hope to be a CEO of my own company, though.”

“That’s actually really cool. So, what brings you to the country?” Eren asked.

“Uh… I had a really bad breakup. I… It was just too much for me. I was having a stressful time at work, and everything just got to me, and I couldn’t handle it. My grandfather suggested to take a leave of absence and stay in the country with him, so I took his advice and here I am.”

Eren nodded, “I just got out of a nasty relationship too.”

“Uh, well, that’s the thing… We had a really loving relationship. One day, she just… I don’t even know what happened. We had a huge fight, and it ended up with her leaving.”

The room became silent again, with Jean and Eren looking away from each other. He wondered if their relationship was the one he had just gotten out of? He wasn’t going to ask, though. That wasn’t his place.

“Dinner?” Mikasa stood up guiding everyone to the kitchen.  
Everyone sat down at the wooden table, not speaking a word. Utensils clanking against the plates, as the silence went on until everyone finished eating. Mikasa put the plates in the sink, but before joining everyone in the living room, she took out some alcohol, hoping it’ll relieve some of the tension, and went back to the living room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading <3 Please leave some comments and kudos, thank you! ^~^


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